Passport to Texas

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For the past four years, the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, this year at Lake Conroe, has reinvented the way bass tournaments are fished.

11— What they do in this tournament different than other tournaments; the bass that are caught in the tournament are immediately weighed, measured and immediately released in the boat, instead of coming to a staged weigh-in.

Dave Terre is Texas parks and Wildlife Department Chief of fisheries. While bringing fish to shore for display is permissible, 99% of the bass caught, go back into the lake, with an estimated 100% survival.

18—And this is accomplished by putting judges in each of the pro anglers’ bass boats. These judges basically weigh and measure the fish for the angler, then they are recorded—matter of fact, they’re called into a central control tower by radio—and the fish then are immediately released; no harm.

The Pro Angler’s Association sanctions the Bass Classic tournament and, in cooperation with Texas Parks and Wildlife, was instrumental in developing this new judging method to promote conservation of the species.

18—This is a group of folks who are all about conservation. They want to change the way bass tournaments are fished, in this country, and so a couple of years ago we did an impromptu survey of the pro anglers that participate in this tournament. A very high percentage of them feel like this could be the future of the way bass tournaments are fished.

Learn more about fisheries management and see photos from the Bass Classic at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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